Motorcycles

We are new to the forum and are considering a relocation to the Lakeside area in about 5 years. We have not been to the area yet, but are coming for a week in April. My wife and I are avid motorcycle travelers. I was wondering if anyone on this forum rides or could comment on the safety/feasability of traveling western Mexico via the backroads. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Mike and Darcey

i am a founding member of los ocultos mc,chapala and know about 1000 bikers from other clubs around mexico, my ride is a '53 custom beezer. some of my buds are off roaders and you will love it here.

While I agree with what Pedro says best for Newbies to looksie for a while
before driving or riding in my opinion. Too much to look at when you get
here at first. You think that left turn signal on that truck in the right lane
means he is going to turn nope it means it is OK for you to pass. Lets face
it on a bike it is even more important. I don't know your experience level
but I would be very careful on a bike or a car down here when you first
arrive. You can be the best biker NOB and it don't mean nothing if you don't
know the differences down here. Travel with other experienced folks is my
other suggestion. You are going to love the topes you can't see my friend.

Z

There are some great backroads around here for riding and exploring,but I would avoid the urban areas like Guadalajara where I live.
I doubt even Pedro would feel comfortable riding around in the city.

You might want to get in touch with Albert and Ellen who have the forum ..
http://www.lagunachapala.com/ They ride all over.

I too am considering bringing my cruiser down here but have been pondering doing so for a year now. I know the roads here are not for cruisers and the only real option is a dual purpose bike that can handle the off road conditions because from what I have seen you will encounter those conditions as much on the roads as much as off. Also there are a lot of people warning me not to bring my bike here because of the increased chances for an accident here. Still the perfect riding weather almost every day is so tempting. I have driven the highways in Jalisco by car and they appear to be in good condition and riding a cruiser on them does not appear as if it would be any different then NoB. I am always on the lookout for a riding club here, where like minded cruiser riders could get together for a day or two of riding and discovering Mexico, anyone knowing of one please let me know.
I do not know if the rules for bringing in a motorbike from NoB is any different then for a car, or if the rules are different since the new immigration rules have come into effect, if anyone can enlighten me about this I would appreciate it.

i have many friends that ride cruisers and my moto is 59 years old. we are usually in front of casadores on a sunday if you want to learn more.
no i don't ride to guadalajara because i am an old sucker but some of my members and other mc friends come down here to visit regularly.
zed-the op is obviously an experienced rider and will do here quite nicely if an old sucker like me does and i do. you know nuttin' iffen you ain't a rider!
as far as bringing in a moto-is it under 1000cc's or what?
in any event there is another biker on this forum that rides a harley.
what do you ride op?

as an old biker I've been wondering .....all the bikes I see for sale are 150 cc or less
someone told me that the reason is the insurance rates go up for anything over 150 cc ......would love to buy a KLR 750 0r a Royal Enfield 500 cc

the insurance on mi moto at 650cc is about $200cdn. so when are ya getting the enfield gravy?

"when the sun shines on my back porch again "

Bajavet:

On Sunday, Feb 24th, we drove the approx. 170 miles from Patzcuaro, Michoacan to Guadalajara. We left Patzcuaro shortly after 10am and immediately started seeing groups of road bikes touring the roads around Lake Patzcuaro. Once we connected with the Guadalajara - Morelia Cuota (toll road), we started seeing much larger groups (ranging from about 10 to 50 and more) of bikes. I wouldn't even speculate how many hundreds of bikes we spotted during our leasurely 4 hour drive.

To give you an idea of what these roads are like, here is a 3 minute condensed video we shot last August of these same roads:

The video starts in the hills just NW of Lake Patzcuaro and ends on the cuota mentioned above.

Just thought it might be helpful to you to see a map of the mentioned route:
https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Tlaquepaque,+JAL,+Mexico&daddr=P%C3%A1tzcuaro,+Michoac%C3%A1n,+Mexico&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=20.072102,-102.414507&sspn=1.313067,2.705383&geocode=FWN_OgEdicDX-SmnX3gPkbIohDGNuQPPL4-nHw%3BFeXLKQEdBo_x-Sl9KA7jg5YthDG3xjOki31vaA&oq=Patzcuaro&doflg=ptm&mra=luc&t=m&z=9

Looking for bike right now. Like the dual purpose but I have short legs and they are just too tall. How much are the Enfields down here? They sure do look good and I like the sound.

Z

Back home I owned everything from high powered Japanese crotch rockets to Harley Davidsons. The HD was my favorite for cruising however given the very heavy weight I would be hesitant to ride one down here on the oil covered cobblestones.

My other concern is the hundreds of hidden topes (speedbumps) throughout Mexico. Some of them are very difficult to see. They are unsigned and unpainted in many areas. I have accidentally hit these at 100km in my van because I wasn't paying attention and always wondered what would have happened if I did the same thing on a heavy bike.

If I were to buy another bike here I would get a KLR or something similar.

Zedinmexico wrote:Looking for bike right now. Like the dual purpose but I have short legs and they are just too tall. How much are the Enfields down here? They sure do look good and I like the sound.

Z

the distributor is in mexico city and they are the same price as the excited states and canuckleheadland-$8000cdn.
the shifter is now on the left and they have a fuel injector instead of a carb. my friends that know them,give them a thumbs up-much improved apparently.

Zedinmexico wrote:Looking for bike right now. Like the dual purpose but I have short legs and they are just too tall. How much are the Enfields down here? They sure do look good and I like the sound.

Z

Limey motorcycles rule ! ...... Beezers ( BSA = bastard stopped again), Trumpets, snorting Nortons . matchbox (Matchless ) and AJS ( all junk and scrap )....had them all ....they looked like machines not fashion statements and had soul !......... and you didn't see yourself coming down the road
with a thumper .you could pull away in 3 rd gear and listen to the bangs get closer and closer .... torque over gears ..... Just gave my Velocette pin to an old friend who owned one as well
the only time they didn't leak oil was when they were out of oil ....ah, the days of my youth
T?he Enfields go for about $ 7 K here in Mexico , 5 K in the states ....parts are going to be a problem

gravy wrote:

Zedinmexico wrote:Looking for bike right now. Like the dual purpose but I have short legs and they are just too tall. How much are the Enfields down here? They sure do look good and I like the sound.

Z

Limey motorcycles rule ! ...... Beezers ( BSA = bastard stopped again), Trumpets, snorting Nortons . matchbox (Matchless ) and AJS ( all junk and scrap )....had them all ....they looked like machines not fashion statements and had soul !......... and you didn't see yourself coming down the road
with a thumper .you could pull away in 3 rd gear and listen to the bangs get closer and closer .... torque over gears ..... Just gave my Velocette pin to an old friend who owned one as well
the only time they didn't leak oil was when they were out of oil ....ah, the days of my youth
T?he Enfields go for about $ 7 K here in Mexico , 5 K in the states ....parts are going to be a problem

Don't forget Vincents! I was lucky enough to ride one. Very hard to start and surprisingly fast and the brakes were not nearly as bad as I thought
they would be. My pick if I could get one english bike. Norton would be second.

Z

This turns my stomach to watch - but the guy seemed to walk away. A motorcycle cop and presidential guard forgets about a 'tope' speed bump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-MZ1gfQAI8

Thanks for all of the helpful information. That's a great video Cheenagringo. Let me give you a little more information about us. We have had all types and brands of motorcycles from Japanese to Harleys to Ducatis. We have settled on BMW GS models for the best fit for the type of riding that we do. For those that don't know, the BMW GS is mainly a lightweight street bike that can do some off road stuff. They are surprisingly quick and nimble on the street. I have surprised a sport bike or two. We definitely not loyal to any one brand, but the BMW currently fits our needs.

We do ride often and put on some miles. We usually ride 20,000 to 25,000 miles per year. We have ridden all over the USA and some in Canada. We have ridden in Spain, Brazil, Peru and ridden down to Batopilis in the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua. (CBob, I have missed seeing a Tope or two and almost ejected the wife off of the pillion.) I am currently the president of our local BMW motorcycle club of about 150 members. If we make the move, we will definitely be looking for some fellow riders to hook up with.

My original question about the safety of riding the backroads in western Mex was more geared towards personal safety instead of road safety. You know about all of the crap that gets posted on the internet about safety in Mex and just wanted to get some local opinions. We can't wait to come down and check out the area. We are ready for a change.

Photo from a recent Colorado trip










p

i know a coupla guys that ride gs and last sunday hung out in our oficina with 3 guys from the beemer club in guadalajara. i think they have about 100 members. lotsa riders do off roading around here and appear to not worry about personal safety. it is a good idea to join a group though.
i just realized our well known insurance agent just recently started off roading with a club-they go all over the place but prefer the coast.

Thanks for the useful information Pedro. Looks like there will be plenty of opportunities for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qxSeRrzGXo
this gathering is every mid october here in chapala

CHILLIN wrote:This turns my stomach to watch - but the guy seemed to walk away. A motorcycle cop and presidential guard forgets about a 'tope' speed bump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-MZ1gfQAI8

Pobrecito transito,maybe he shouldn't have hit the front brake so hard when he belatedly saw the tope.

In previous years there was a big bike meet in Chapala some time in the fall. Is that still on.
Tks

it was yesterday[hermanos del lago mc 8th aniversario] and it wasn't big-about 150 bikers. the last 2 gummints here have not been biker friendly. ya missed the free cerveza.

Bajavet wrote:We are new to the forum and are considering a relocation to the Lakeside area in about 5 years.  We have not been to the area yet, but are coming for a week in April.  My wife and I are avid motorcycle travelers.  I was wondering if anyone on this forum rides or could comment on the safety/feasability of traveling western Mexico via the backroads.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Mike and Darcey

We have a local group of serious riders, including a sub group that does a lot of off road stuff. Some have the big GS, some the smaller 700 and 800 BMW GS. At the age of 70, I'm strictly a pavement rider but I get around those roads pretty quick.

If you're riding here, we can definitely hook you up with the local guys for some off road fun or some touring. A couple of our guys are like human GPS units, we just feed them a burrito every now and then and they're happy.

Riding in Mexico is fantastic. Yeah, the roads do tend to be a bit crappy but they mostly lack those speed traps that are everywhere up there and there are fantastic twisty mountain rides in central Mexico. And when you get to someplace, there's almost always something really cool to see.

There's a big BMW club in GDL and we run into them practically every weekend. We also have several great shops there who really know how to fix your bike without bankrupting you. The attitude at the local shops is so much better than that you normally find NOB, they really are customer friendly.

PM me if you'd like more information. We'll definitely make you welcome when you come.